South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has extended ward visiting hours to enable family and friends to see patients at any time during the day.
Patient centred visiting applies to wards at James Cook, Friarage, The Friary, Redcar and East Cleveland hospitals with the exception of children’s wards, maternity wards, the surgical admissions unit and the post-operative day unit.
The new patient centred approach, which launched on Monday 1 October, welcomes visitors during daytime hours – providing it is what the patient wants and needs.
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Patient centred visiting has been introduced following the success of open visiting for carers and will be of particular benefit to those who are travelling from further afield to access the Trust’s many specialist services.
Gill Hunt, director of nursing, said: “The Trust recognises the importance of the support of loved ones when it comes to the welfare and recovery of our patients.
“With this in mind we have now introduced patient centred visiting across all of our hospital sites with flexible arrangements to suit each individual.”
Visitors are asked to continue to limit numbers to two per bed at any time, to always respect the privacy of other patients, to ensure any children are supervised at all times and to wash their hands or use alcohol gel when entering and leaving all wards and departments.
Visiting outside of daytime hours, for example when a patient is reaching the end of their life, will remain open and flexible to meet the needs of the patient and their family and staff are happy to discuss this with families.
Gill added: “Relatives are asked to consider the needs and wishes of the patient, and who else may be visiting, in deciding when and for how long to attend.
“There may be times during the day when visitors are asked to leave the clinical area and we welcome their support with this.
“Families, carers and friends all have an important role to play. We need to work together to ensure everyone receives patient centred, safe and effective care.”
For more details visit southtees.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/information
